Xy Preschool Teacher is a blog for fellow preschool teachers or parents of preschool children. These are articles I have written to inspire and encourage fellow kindergarten teachers. Whether you need some kindergarten resources or guides to parenting, I wrote this blog through my personal experience or research. I also sell preschool printables on Etsy for parents and educators that include special needs resources or classroom management tools. Let's get your child ready for back to school!
How do children develop in writing? This article will include
two figures from two separate sources that are accurate in understanding how
your child achieves certain milestones in writing.
Writing development
Figure 1
Developmental Stages of Writing
Developmental Stages of Writing.
Note. Adapted from *Stages of Writing Development*, by West
Hartford Public Schools, 2010
As is clear in Figure 1, children’s scribbles have meaning.
A child can develop from Pre-Literate to Fluent, the older preschoolers should
be able to reach basic Sentence Writing (West Hartford Public
Schools, 2010).
Spelling development
Figure 2
Spelling Stages
Spelling Stages.
Note. Reprinted/adapted from “Spelling Stages,” by Literacy
Today, 2025,
https://www.literacytoday.ca/home/writingproduction/writingproduction-process/spelling-stages.
Reprinted/adapted with permission.
Whereas Figure 2, it is a more detailed look at how
children learn spelling.
Hence, the teacher’s role is to provide many opportunities and
provide the learning environment, and incorporate visual patterns of words
during daily lessons and have a bank of words for children to follow (Literacy Today, 2025).
I have some experience in creating children's picturebooks over the years as a preschool teacher. Here is a handy checklist if you want to create one yourself. It is an extremely rewarding process, and the true joys come from seeing the children feeling proud of their own work in printed format.
Cover Page
Cover page.
This is what folks will see when they contemplate buying the book or picking it up from the library, so it has to stand out and be striking; people judge books by the covers literally. The cover page has to include the title of the book, author, and illustrator. Some books have the awards printed to further entice the reader. Book spines also include the book title.
Endpapers (2)
Endpaper 1.
Endpaper 2.
These are for pasting the pages to the hardcover on hardcover books, but do get creative for this. You can use patterns related to the illustrations in your book, and I have seen picturebooks where they show 1 or 2 different objects, unlike mine, which shows the same objects. I use these for paperback books too.
Copyright Page
Copyright Page.
The copyright page is essential in any book. I also use it for dedication whenever I plan a class project.
Cover Page
Second Cover Page.
This is the second cover page with the title and illustration. It has a different title from the main cover page because my book has 2 stories, and this is the first story.
Pages
Page 1.
Page 2.
Page 3.
Now we move on to the meat and potatoes of the book. These contain words and illustrations to tell the story page by page. Do ensure that your words do not cover the images, and they work together to tell the story. You can do it in multiple ways, but I know of 4 ways to do so.
Use text to elaborate more on the images
Use images to elaborate more on the text
Both text and images tell the same story
Text and images tell opposite stories
This is quite self-explanatory, but for point 4, I have seen a book where the text says nothing is going on, but the illustration shows magical beings under the bed. I should mention that I take pride in the work of children; never will I put my words or drawings above their work. I can draw and write better because I am an adult, but what will that do? I am a teacher, and I am here to support their growth and development, not to show off my skills. I play the role of a facilitator in this project.
Endpapers (2)
Endpaper 3.
Endpaper 4.
Back Page
Back Page.
The back page typically includes the ISBN number and barcode. In Singapore, if you are self-publishing your own book, you can get a free ISBN number from the National Library Board (NLB)! If your book has size variations, then you need different numbers.
The last point to note is that the total number of pages should be a multiple of 8, so it can be printed without any issues. I have managed to create 56 pages for this book, and if you find yourself missing a few pages, you should brainstorm for ideas and add filler pages. I have tried putting a Word Search with the names of the children in my class. Think of it as bonus content.
It took me many years to learn about book formatting, so if you feel overwhelmed, it is perfectly normal. Your first book with your class, or your own, will be very difficult to make. But as you move on to your next couple, you will find the process much easier. I leave you one of my favourite quotes that relates to me as a creator.
For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good.
- Ira Glass
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This is a personal story post about how I came to love writing. I grew up enjoying Archie Comics, and I still love reading comics and novels. When I consume online media, I tend to prefer reading words to watching videos, because it is faster. I have always enjoyed using words to tell stories.
My schooling days
I recall in Primary School when my teacher read out my composition to the class, and I scored the highest. It was a fun and rewarding experience, but I give thanks to Archie Comics for helping me to write more creatively.
And in my Polytechnic days, my lecturer said I am the most prolific in my Diploma in Child Psychology & Early Education, with a specialisation track in Writing & Publishing for Young Children, which I graduated in 2013.
My self-publishing journey
Then, in 2019 and 2021, I took steps of faith to self-publish my graphic novels. And even though they didn't do as well as I had hoped, they were such valuable and enriching learning experiences. Truly, the real joy from art comes from the process of making it. Once you have created it, you should learn to let go and let it do its thing. It may bring success back to you, but even if it doesn't, you should still be proud of your achievement.
Personally, I am an introverted person, and I prefer to use writing to express myself. I do go out and interact with others, but this method of self-expression can capture a deeper side within me. As such, I have created this blog to empower fellow educators and parents, hopefully you are one of them. If not, I thank you for reading my posts and hope you can continue to support me in my work.
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Spelling as we know in school is a formal memorising of words
and applying them during a written test. I do this weekly every Thursday. But
the actual definition of spelling is very different.
Nine stages of writing
There are 9 stages of writing, namely drawing, scribbling,
wavy scribbles or mock handwriting, letter-like forms or mock letters, letter
strings, transitional writing, invented or phonetic spelling, beginning word
and phrase writing, and lastly conventional spelling and sentence writing (Byington & Kim, 2017). Each child
progresses individually through these stages, and at first, their writing may
not make much sense, I did have children at K2 who are still drawing. But that
is a writing development stage, albeit the first one. I will focus mainly on
invented spelling for this article.
What is invented spelling?
What is invented spelling? It is defined as children using
the skills and knowledge they have to show the sounds in words, so they may
omit certain letters but focus on the first or last letters (Byington & Kim, 2017). They may write “juice”
as “joose” because phonetically the letters do form that word, but as they
reach the last stage, “Conventional spelling and sentence writing”, they will
understand the difference. What we can do as educators or parents is to be
nurturing and guide them along their writing development.
Use environmental print
Environmental print is a useful tool to have to teach
children writing, as it is the first writing they encounter in their environment,
to learn about the use of written language in various contexts, they can even
be food items especially unfamiliar ones so they can learn as this focuses on
children’s interests and teach them about sight words (Xu & Rutledge, 2003). This is not that
complicated, you already have these things in your house, so you can just be
intentional and expose your child to these words. I like to have labels of
artworks they have done pasted on the walls, to encourage them to read. It is also
amusing to me that whatever I write on the whiteboard interests them.
We must never forget they are visual learners, no amount of
shushing can match a reward chart, or no amount of “Can you please eat your
food faster?” can match a timer counting down 5 minutes.
Xu, S. H., & Rutledge, A. L.
(2003, March). Kindergartners Learn through Environmental Print. Young
Children, 58(2), 44-51. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/42729931
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I do regular journal writing with my K2s. In my school, we have a word bank book, a small notebook where they can ask me to write words they don't know how to spell. I encourage them to write anything they want and get them to think of sentences on their own. I usually don't correct their sentences as I want them to not be discouraged, but I do teach them proper writing conventions like finger spacing, upper/lowercase, and punctuation. Otherwise, I basically allow inventive spelling.
Inventive spelling
Inventive spelling is actually very simple; it is just allowing a child to write the way he or she wants to. It is not copying or penmanship. It is creative writing based on the child's own terms. I do not dictate what or how they should write, though sometimes, for certain events, I ask them to write based on a topic. But usually I allow them to be free.
I am heartened that there have been improvements in the children's writing abilities since the start of the school term. Probably due to the efforts of the parents. Some have unfortunately remained stagnant, which I will need to highlight during the upcoming parent-teacher meeting.
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